The Rules of Being Popular
by BuzyBumblyBee
Summary: Takes place after the season finale. But.. 1) Anna never existed, so Summer is still confused about how she feels about Seth. How it will turn out, I don't know. 2) Theresa kicked Ryan out, not wanting him there. 3) There's a new girl in town.
1. Rule 1: Appearance is Everything

Kathryn brushed her long red hair.  
"Ouch!!" a piece of hair had become knotted in the brush. She tried to untangle it, until she realised that she should just brush it out. Suddenly, her alarm clock blared. It vibrated and fell off the nightstand, lying on her bedroom floor, wiggling.  
"Dammit!" she had pressed the snooze button instead of the off button for the third time that morning. She quickly turned it off to stop the dreadful noise, and then ran downstairs to grab her breakfast. She put an English muffin in the toaster, and tapped her foot impatiently while waiting for it to pop up again.  
"Hello darling!" Kathryn's parents swanned into the room. They believed their daughter was perfect. Perfectly responsible, reliable. Always handed assignments in on time, never got into trouble at school. Kathryn knew that these little traits were really glaring faults. She was too responsible, too reliable. In other words, boring. But maybe all that would change, now that she was in the Orange County, California. "Ready for your first day at Harbor High?" her mom sang. She was always singing.  
"Yes, I'm ready mom!" she was glad when her muffin popped, so she could butter it, then run upstairs and eat it.  
As the crumbs spilled onto her bedroom floor, Kathryn looked at herself in the mirror, again doubting her choice of outfit for her first day of school. She has opted for a pale pink mini, with little flares at the bottom of the skirt, white flip-flops that she had bought from a shop called "FCUK" in England, and a white vest top with tiny butterflies on the straps. 'I look okay,' she thought, but she was still unsure. She picked up her little bag – she could barely fit all her things in it, but she couldn't be seen with a huge rucksack! She ran the straighteners over her hair one last time, and headed down the stairs.  
"Bye Mom! Bye Dad!" she ran out of the house before her mother could come and sing to the whole street about how happy she was that her daughter was going to Harbor High.  
She started to walk up the path when she saw a black SUV pull up towards her. The window slid down and a girl leaned out of the window.  
"Hey! Are you going to Harbor?" she asked Kathryn.  
"Yeah...I gather that you are, too."  
"Yeah, listen, do you want a ride?" Kathryn was just about to respond, when another girl poked her head between the two front seats.  
"What's the hold up?" she saw Kathryn. "Oh."  
"Yes, I would love a ride. Thanks!"  
"Great! The back door should be open," she turned to look at the girl sitting behind her, "Summer."  
"Sure, whatever Coop." the girl now known as Summer opened the for Kathryn to get in, and smiled.  
"So what's your name?" she asked Kathryn.  
"I'm Kathryn. I just moved here from New York." She added, hoping it would make her sound cooler than she actually was.  
"I'm Summer. And this is Coop, otherwise known as Marissa."  
"Hello?" Kathryn had failed to notice the blonde girl sitting on the other side of Summer. "I'm Holly. It'll be so great to have you at Harbor with us!" Kathryn laughed – Holly's enthusiasm was infectious.  
"I'm the social chair at Harbor." Marissa started speaking again, "I organize all the dances, parties, everything like that. Summer and Holly are cheerleaders, but right now they're on hiatus, because it's water polo season, and they don't really have cheerleaders. When you show up at school with us, you'll become instantly popular..."  
Kathryn tuned out while Marissa talked about the rules and regulations of being popular.  
It was an odd word  
Popular.  
It meant so many things. It meant playing your cards right. It meant always having friends. Living in a bubble. Safety.  
Kathryn was never popular in her old school. She had concentrated on her studies, only hanging out with her best friend Liz, and her boyfriend Alex. Liz had never had a boyfriend. Maybe it was that that made them unpopular. Kathryn had broken up with Alex as soon as she found out that she was moving. It had been awkward – he didn't understand why they couldn't have a long-distance relationship – but he did understand that she didn't want to see him anymore. He hadn't called her since she'd left.  
"Kathryn? Hello?" Summer was waving her hand frantically in front of Kathryn's face.  
"Sorry, you guys. I was just wondering what it's going to be like at Harbor."  
"Oh, well you don't have to wonder any more – we're here!" Marissa cried.  
Kathryn opened the door of the car and stepped out, and almost instantly, she felt the eyes of the entire student body upon her. She became aware of Summer and Marissa on either side of her, shielding her from the gaze of the dorks, nerds, losers and everyone that was deemed unworthy to be the friends of cheerleaders. She knew exactly who they were – she used to be one of them.  
She walked to class with the three girls, and sat down in an empty space in between Holly and a guy she didn't know. She touched him on the shoulder –  
"Hi." But before he could respond, she was prodded by Holly:  
"No." It was only a shake of the head, but it's message was clear and loud. She couldn't talk to this guy.  
"Oh," Kathryn looked back at the guy. "Sorry," she mouthed. He nodded and smiled, and then looked back down at his comic book.


	2. Rule 2: Never Show Affection

Seth looked back down at his graphic novel. It was his favourite edition of Spiderman 1. It wasn't the first edition. It wasn't the limited edition. It was his edition. The one he had so painstakingly copied from the original, the one he has read and re-read so many times he was amazed the pages hadn't ripped in two. He skimmed the last two pages and then put it away, only to see Summer Roberts staring at him in disgust.  
"Comic books? Ew, Cohen!" she turned away from him, only to talk about him with her best friend, Marissa Cooper.  
"Tough break, man." Seth looked around.  
"Huh?"  
"It's me! Ryan!" Ryan grinned and slapped Seth on the back – it was only way that two guys could greet each other at Harbor without being labeled gay.  
"Dude. Just because Theresa threw you out, it doesn't make public displays of affection cool! I know you love me – in a friendly, _non-sexual_ way, that is, but as I just said, public displays of affection are _not cool_."  
Ryan looked at Seth. He hadn't changed a bit since Ryan had left for Chino to help Theresa look after their baby, but she had made it clear she didn't want him there.  
"Ryan! You have a new life! You abandoned me once, and I couldn't handle you running to Newport every time things got a little hard! So just go – before I change my mind."  
Ryan knew that she was right, and he didn't want to make her angry – he had heard that pregnant women could be pretty temperamental, and he knew if they got into a fight, then she would get hurt, and more importantly, so would the baby. He had left in a hurry, but in the back of his mind, he hoped that she would call him back – he didn't want to leave his child in Chino.  
But he had to.  
"Ryan?" the voice he knew and loved called him away from his memory.  
"Marissa."  
"Oh, Ryan!" Marissa grabbed Ryan and pulled him into a hug. She had missed him so much. It had been so different without him; she hadn't had him there then Oliver had come back, threatening her with the gun this time. She hadn't had him there when she had been beaten in an alleyway for being a "slut", as they had called her. She hadn't had him there when she almost hadn't been there – and she had the scars on her wrist to prove it. Realizing all this, she suddenly pushed him away.  
"You _suck_, Ryan Atwood!"  
"Aah, how I love to hear those words again." Ryan let her push him.  
"How could you leave me here? Alone? Don't even answer that. You wanted to look after your kid in Chino. You just make me feel bad."  
"Sorry," Ryan replied.  
"Don't be sorry. I should be sorry. I'm sorry for dragging you down with my problems. I'm sorry..."  
"Atwood!" Ryan turned to see Summer standing behind him. She punched his chest, as hard as she possibly could. "Where the hell have you been?"  
"I was..."  
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Playing the knight in shining armour! Well let me tell you something, if you think you can just sashay back in here..."  
"Summer. Really, it's okay." Marissa stepped in between the two.  
"Sorry, Ryan. You know..." Summer tried to make her tone lighter, "Rage blackouts."  
"Yeah Summer. I know." Ryan grinned. Summer's rage blackouts were famous. He turned: "And who's this?"  
"Oh, God, sorry! Ryan, this is Kathryn. Kathryn, Ryan." Marissa smiled.  
"Hi." Kathryn barely managed to get the one syllable out. She was dumbstruck.  
"Hey," Ryan held out his hand in greeting and Kathryn shook it, and it was surprisingly supportive – strong and manly. 'I think I'm in love,' she thought.  
"This is Seth." Seth looked up when Ryan introduced him, to see Kathryn smiling. He knew she would fall for the old Atwood charm.  
"Hi," he said, "I think we kinda met."  
"Yeah, kinda." She reached down and picked up the comic book he had been reading. "Spiderman 1?" she opened it to the first page, scanning it for publishing details. "Edition...edition...hey, how come there's no edition reference?"  
"It does have one – you see?" Seth pointed to the bottom left-hand corner of the page, where it said, in miniscule writing: "Edition SC".  
"SC? What does that stand for?"  
"Seth Cohen." Seth mumbled. No-one had ever asked what the "SC" stood for before. Then again, no-one had ever seen it before, either.  
"You mean you made that? Cohen, ew!" Summer was unimpressed, but Kathryn was interested.  
"You did all this?" she asked, flipping over pages, "It's incredible! You've gone into such detail! I can't believe..." she trailed off when she noticed Marissa, Holly and Summer staring at her as if she had just stepped off a spaceship, and had five arms and a fin sprouting out of her. "I mean...like, whatever." And she turned away to face the girls again.  
"Good save." Ryan whispered in her ear, in a voice that Kathryn couldn't place. It was on the brink of sarcasm, but he was too serious to be sarcastic. He almost sounded angry, but she could tell that he wasn't. It was too odd. This guy – this guy was different. Different from anyone she had ever met.  
"Marissa – is everything going to go back to the way it was...before Ryan left...before...before everything?" Summer desperately wanted everything to go back to the way it was. She wanted to go back to the days when she could hang out on the beach with her best friend, her best friend's boyfriend, and her best friend's boyfriend's best friend. Despite the fact that she didn't know how she felt about Seth Cohen, she liked the little arguments they had. She liked his little witticisms. She liked his Jew-fro. What she didn't like was how he kept bringing up the time she had kissed him at his grandfather's birthday party. She had done it spontaneously, she knew it meant nothing – but at the same time she knew it meant something – which was why she was so confused about him.  
"I don't know Sum. I hope so. But now we have Kathryn, and she'll be hanging out with us too..."  
"That's no problem. For me, anyway. I like her." Ryan and Seth came back to join the conversation.  
"You _like_ her, do you Ryan?" Marissa playfully hit him on the shoulder. Ryan winced – unconvincingly, but even so.  
"Not in that way," he started to try and cover up for himself, until he realized he could be offending Kathryn, "Not that I don't think you're very pretty..uh, Seth, help me out here......"  
"Dude," Seth clapped a hand over Ryan's babbling mouth. "Just don't bother. We _all_ know what you were thinking. You're just digging yourself into a bigger hole. Not cool."  
"And what would _you_ know about cool, Cohen?" Summer had to get a cutting remark in there. She did have a reputation to keep, after all.  
'Sorry.' she tried to send him a telepathic message. She knew he wouldn't get it, but sometimes it was easier to pretend. Who was she kidding? It was _always_ easier to pretend. 


	3. Rule 3: Expect the Unexpected

After Marissa had dropped Kathryn off, she began to wonder. Kathryn could be a threat to hers, Summer's and Holly's positions as prettiest in the school. All day guys had been hitting on her, and even Ryan liked her – it was definite. She was a threat.  
"Kathryn's a threat. Soon she could be more popular than us! Did you see the guys hitting on her all day – it's obvious even Ryan likes her!" Marissa slowly drove the car up her driveway in shock, as Summer voiced the exact words that Marissa had been thinking only moments before. It was a good thing that Holly didn't need a lift, and Summer was staying over that night, because if she had had to drive any further, they would have crashed, because all thought drifted out of her brain as soon as Summer spoke.  
As soon as Kathryn walked in the door, she was bombarded with questions. None were about her first day. All were about the excitement of spices and cooking.  
"Kathryn, darling, could you run up the road to...number seventeen, I think it was. A lovely lady lives there – Kirsten. Could you go and ask her for some rosemary? Daddy hasn't unpacked the spice rack yet, and I need some ASAP!" her mother sang.  
"Sure...whatever, Mom." Having been in the house for barely a minute, she wandered out again, looking for the house that was number seventeen.  
As she approached the house, she saw two cars in the driveway, which was odd, seeing as she expected to find a little old lady living there. Oh well, maybe she had visitors! She took a breath, and rang the doorbell.  
"Mom!" Seth yelled. "Bell! Door! With the ringing!"  
"Uh-huh? Yes Seth, send a woman twice your age for the door." Kirsten Cohen continued to rant until she opened the door, only to find a red- headed girl, no older than Seth, looking a little surprised.  
"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have the wrong house – do you know where a...Kirsten lives?" she asked.  
"You're looking at it! I'm Kirsten." She held out her hand for Kathryn to shake. "Come in."  
"Oh!" Kathryn laughed, feeling like a complete jackass. "I was expecting a little old lady!"  
"Well that certainly makes me feel younger." Kirsten grinned. "So, why are you looking for me?"  
"Oh...uh...my mom wanted some rosemary, so...she sent me here..." she suddenly realised how ridiculous she sounded.  
"Oh, right!" Kirsten seemed to understand. "I think I met your mother this morning? Well anyway, I'll go and find the rosemary. If you want to look around, then my son is playing video games in the living room, I believe."  
"Thanks!" Kathryn set off in search of the living room.  
"Muahahaha! Yes, die you evil Agent Scum!" Seth yelled at the TV screen. He was on the last level of Enter the Matrix, and he only had one run left to do.  
"Okay, a) you can't kill agents, b) you have another level to go after this and c)..." she gasped. "Hey Seth!" Seth looked at the figure standing in the doorway. She stepped into the light and he recognised her as the girl he had met that morning.  
"Kathryn? What are you doing here?" he was shocked, but happy to see her. "Okay – wait right here!" and he ran out of the room. He ran down to the poolhouse, where he found Ryan unpacking some more of his things. He looked up.  
"Ryan, come on! You gotta see this!"  
"See what? Seth!" Ryan grabbed Seth's arm to stop him running any further.  
"Ryan. Note this down. It is a _huge_ historical event. There is a girl at my house Ryan."  
"And..." Ryan needed something more. "Marissa's been here lots of times!"  
"Ah, small grasshopper, but that was to see you. However, this girl does not even know that you live here – so she cannot be here for you. Therefore, there is only one other option. She must be here to see me! Now come on – we cannot keep her waiting!" but before they could go any further, they were stopped in their tracks by Kirsten, who wanted them to give Kathryn the rosemary.  
Seth walked into the living room, holding the rosemary, to find Kathryn sitting on the sofa, reading the comic version of "Yu-Gi-Oh! Enter the Shadow Realm", and he immediately knew she was special.  
"Another Seth Cohen masterpiece?" she asked him, smiling slightly.  
"Nope – just a regular, boring graphic novel."  
"You call them graphic novels too?" Kathryn gasped. But then she sobered up. Because she had seen Ryan.  
"Hi Ryan." She smiled coyly.  
Seth was crestfallen. Sure, she hadn't been here to see Ryan – it was impossible. But she hadn't been here for Seth, either. She came for some stupid herb.  
"Oh, hey! Great, you've got the rosemary my mom asked me to get!"  
"Yeah, sure. Here." Seth threw the small bottle at her, but she had to run to get to it. She bent over, fully aware that her mini was riding up her waist, and she knew that they would be able to see her knickers, which had tiny mirrors all over them, saying "Can you see yourself in these?". Ryan and Seth stared at her. Seth, in particular. She stood back up, shook out her hair, and then smiled at the two boys confusedly.  
"What?" she pretended not to know that they had been staring at her ass.  
Ryan shut his mouth, and poked Seth.  
"Seth," he said out of the corner of his mouth, "say something!"  
Seth slowly opened his mouth, and babbled:  
"Uh...we were amazed by your great...flexibility! Yeah...flexibility. Uh well...yeah, look at the time! Shouldn't you be giving your mom the rosemary? I'll walk you to the door."  
"Okay...thanks." Seth walked Kathryn to the front door, but before she left, she said – "Listen, before I go, I want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry for blowing you off about the Spiderman thing. It's just...I need all the friends I can get...and I'm sorry. And I was wondering if you wanted to come over and look at my set sometime."  
"Your set?" Seth could only think of one thing that she meant.  
"Yeah – my set of graphic novels. I live at number nine, so come over anytime...oh, except for Saturday mornings. I have kickboxing classes...but any time other than that!" she knew she was asking him out, even though she didn't think of him that way. "Okay, so thanks for the rosemary and uh...I'll see you at school tomorrow!" She kissed him on the cheek, and ran off down the road. She didn't notice Summer standing in Marissa's balcony, having witnessed the whole scene. 


	4. Rule 4: Things Are Not Always What They ...

"I mean, who does she think she is, sashaying up in here, all new and exotic with her red hair, and being all New York-y...and you know, she's probably not only kissing Seth Cohen, but Ryan too." Summer raged. No-one knew how she felt about Seth, and if you'd asked her the day before, then she wouldn't have known either. But feeling sick to the stomach at the sight of another girl kissing him? Well she thought it was pretty obvious how she felt now.  
"Summer, Ryan would never do that to me. I trust him! And anyway, why are you so bothered about Seth Cohen? It's not as if you like him or anything!" Marissa didn't seem too concerned. She was more bothered about filing her nails into perfect ovals. Summer sat down slowly on the bed, disappointed.  
"No, I guess not."

* * *

"Oh my God did you see her ass? It was like..." Seth tried to gesticulate as a way of describing Kathryn's butt. "And she likes _graphic novels_. And she knows about Enter the Matrix! She's like, my dream girl..." Seth stopped short when Ryan shot him. "Dude. You're on _my team! Dude! Stop shooting me!_" Seth pressed pause and the game stopped. "Dude, what is up with you? You're all...ponder...-y. and that's never good. So come on. Tell me what's up!" Seth waited.  
"Seth...I think she's every guy's dream girl."  
"Even yours?" Seth paused. "But what about Marissa?"  
"I don't know. I mean...I love her, but from what you've told me, Kathryn does _kickboxing!_ She's like...she's like Theresa."  
Seth didn't know what to say. Theresa was like the female version of Ryan. Marissa wasn't. Marissa was too...she was too needy for Ryan. She was too emotional. Instead of pretending to be all bad-ass and be with Ryan, she should've stayed with Luke, but she lost her chance at that, because now Luke was with Holly. And if Kathryn managed to get Ryan, and Seth had no doubt that she wouldn't, then Marissa would be alone. Maybe that was how it was meant to be.

* * *

"Yeah, Mom, the spaghetti was delicious!...Huh? No, we didn't get homework on the first day! I'm going swimming!" Which Kathryn was going to do. But just not in her pool. She put on her bikini, the material straining to accommodate her large, but proportional, breasts. She picked up the rosemary she had borrowed from the Cohens', and headed back over there.  
Ryan had picked up the Yu-Gi-Oh comic that Kathryn had been reading, and started reading it himself, when the doorbell rang. 'It's not bad,' Ryan thought, looking down at the comic. 'Don't know what's so special about it though.'  
He got up, hoping it was Marissa at the door, because if it was Kathryn – well he didn't know if he could deal with it. But it wasn't Marissa.  
"Hey." Kathryn smiled. "I just came by to bring the rosemary back – and I can't stay long – I'm going to the beach to have a little paddle in the sea, 'cause our pool isn't done yet." She handed him the rosemary, and started to turn away to walk down to the sea.  
"Wait!" Ryan yelled when she was halfway down the driveway. She turned back, and he felt slightly embarrassed. "If you want, we have a pool right here..."  
"Really? Thanks, Ryan! Would you and Seth care to join me?" Seth appeared out of the living room door.  
"Well how could we say no?"

* * *

"Come _on_ Coop!" Summer grabbed Marissa's arm and dragged her out of the house. "We have to go and talk to them!"  
"About what?"  
"About _Kathryn_, silly!" Summer rang the bell, and waited, playing a little tune on the wall with her nails.  
"You rang?" Seth answered the door, dripping wet from the pool.  
"Hi Seth!" Marissa gave him a sweet smile. "Do you think we could come in?"  
"You mean come through – we're in the pool."  
"Huh. Okay. Lead the way, Cohen." Summer poked him, and then wiped her finger on her jeans. Wet Cohen. Ew.

* * *

"So, apart from kickboxing, do you do anything else?" Ryan was asking Kathryn.  
"Not anymore...I did judo for six years, and I went as far as I could with that. Trouble is, no-one's ever attacked me..." she noticed Ryan looking confused. "...so I could never practise on the element of surprise."  
"Oh." Ryan smiled. "Could you show me a move?"  
"Sure." She got up, out of the pool and pulled him up too. He looked into her eyes, and their lips moved closer to each other's..."Uh...so anyway, we'll get into the position, and I'll tell you what to do. Okay?" Kathryn suddenly burbled.  
"Okay." Ryan sighed. He knew it was wrong to want her, but what could he do?

* * *

"Ladies, we're here..." Seth trailed off when he saw Ryan and Kathryn. Marissa looked around, and eventually she saw them too. She had her arm around his waist, her hips aligned with his, holding his hand, whispering in his ear.  
"Okay, so I'll push up on you..." Kathryn started to tell Ryan.  
"GET THE HELL OFF MY BOYFRIEND!" Marissa ran over and grabbed Kathryn by the arm. She pulled her away from Ryan. "YOU LYING, SLUTTY BITCH! HOW DARE YOU?" Marissa screamed.  
"Marissa!" Ryan shouted. She stopped screaming, and slowly turned to face him. "She was showing me a _judo move!_"  
"Wh...what?" Marissa said softly.  
"She was showing me a judo move. We weren't doing _anything!_"  
"Oh, my God..." she looked at Kathryn. "I am _so sorry_."  
"It's...it's nothing." Kathryn said, through tears. She picked up her clothes and ran into the house. She ran in the direction of the front door, but tears blurred her vision, and she ended up in the living room. She sat down on the sofa, and wept.  
"Hey." She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looking up, found it was Seth.  
"Hey, Seth."  
"Marissa says she's sorry. It's just that since Ryan ran away to help Theresa with their baby, she's become really protective over him – you understand, right?"  
"Sure." She looked up. "I'm sorry – I probably look all wet and horrible." She barely laughed.  
"You look wet, yes. Horrible, no. You look beautiful." She smiled shyly, and blushed. "Thanks."  
Seth helped her up, and she pulled him into a hug. He smiled sadly and stroked her hair. It was probably the only chance he would ever get. 


	5. Rule 5: Never Say Sorry

_hey guys. thanks for all the great reviews! this chapter is uber-short - i didnt want to write more for it. the next chapter should be up tomorrow or the day after. R&R! oh, and by the way, thanks to ann brashares for inspiring this chapter.

* * *

_ "Ryan!" Seth squirted him with his water pistol, right between the eyes.  
"Okay – you're in for it now." And with that, Ryan had disappeared. Seth sat, and waited for the ambush.  
After waiting for what seemed an eternity, he got up, and turned...where he was hit by a bucket of cold water. Ryan had been standing there the whole time. Seth put his hands on his hands on his hair, and feeling the wetness he ran inside.  
"Seth...Seth!" Ryan yelled after him. Seth came to his parents' window, brandishing a hairdryer.  
"Dude. I have to blow dry my hair now, or it'll fuck up, and look like Debra Messing and Don King's love child. So kindly do not pour water – or any liquidy substance – on my head again. Thanks."  
Ryan laughed. It was just so...so 'Seth' to think something like that – actually, he probably got it from his father. Ryan remembered Seth once told him about the time when Kirsten had asked Sandy if Seth looked 'rad', and Sandy had responded:  
"Oh, yes, you do look rad. Mad props, son." For Seth, it had been painful. For Ryan, it was just amusing.  
"Urgh!" it stopped being so amusing, however, when Seth poured a bucket of water over Ryan's head.  
Ryan stalked up to Seth's room to use the hairdryer, and he saw Kathryn playing soccer by herself in the street. He noticed her incredible ball control, her style with which she flicked the ball up into the air, and caught it in a header. She had great skill. He wandered down to the front door, and went outside.  
Kathryn saw Ryan leave the bedroom, and she knew he was coming outside. When he walked out the door, she kicked the ball up, and caught it under her arm.  
"Hi." She said. She still felt a little awkward around him since the incident at the pool.  
"Hey. You're quite a player." He pointed to the ball.  
"I was showing off for you," she confessed.  
He held his thoughts for a second as he looked her in the eyes. Then he looked back at Marissa's house.  
"Kathryn, don't," he said quietly.  
"Don't what?"  
"Don't...don't...push this." He couldn't find words he was happy with.  
"Why not? Why am I not allowed to want you?"  
He was taken aback by her directness. He glanced across at her and groaned.  
"Look, I'm...flattered. I'm honoured. Who wouldn't be?"  
Kathryn clenched her jaw. _Flattered_ and _honoured_ weren't the words she wanted to hear. Anyway, she didn't believe them.  
"Kathryn, you are beautiful. You are amazing and talented and just...just irrepressible." His voice was softer now. He met her eyes. "It's not like I haven't noticed. Trust me, I have. But you're too pretty and you're too sexy and you're too..._perfect_ for me. And I know I'm...rough, I guess, but when you showed me that judo move, having your body so close to mine was a huge turn on. And having been so close to you, I can't be around you and not think about what that feels like...besides, I have a girlfriend." He added the last part sadly. He kissed her, slowly, but not for long enough. Then he turned, and walked back toward the house. She collapsed, and sat in the road.  
"But she's not _right_ for you," she breathed sadly. He heard, and turned back.  
"I'm sorry."  
She threw the ball after him, not looking up. She hated that he'd said that.


	6. Rule 6: Don't Trust Anyone

Kathryn sat by the sea, dangling her feet in the water. She looked at her reflection in the water, but didn't recognise the girl looking back at her. She could see the reflection of another person in the water. It was Ryan.  
"Did you know I would come?" he asked in his easy, level tone.  
"I didn't want you to come," she looked up into his eyes, the blue eyes that forced her to tell the truth. "I hoped you would."  
He sat down beside her, playing with his fingers, staring at the moon, and she sat, playing with her toes, looking at everything that didn't remind her of him. She looked at the moon, but that reminded her of his penetrating eyes. She looked at the pebbles on the beach, but they reminded her of the pebbles at the pool, where she had never felt as weird. She eventually just stopped looking at anything at all. She felt him put his arm around her waist, lace his fingers through hers, and she rested her head on his shoulder.  
He picked up a shell that was lying next to him, and wrote a message in the sand. It said:  
"I think I'm falling in love with you." She felt him leave her side, and walk away.  
"I don't know what to do..." she had never cried over a guy before, but now she let the tears spill over. "I wish..." she wrote in the sand, but what she would have wished, she never knew, because at that exact moment, the sea came up, and any trace of how they felt about each other was washed away.

* * *

_Run, running all the time  
Running to the future  
With you right by my side_  
Ryan sat and listened to the song on the radio. He was confused. He was falling out of love with one girl and falling in love with another. He didn't know what to do.  
_Me, I'm the one you chose  
Out of all the people  
You wanted me the most  
_Ryan remembered that Marissa was still in love with him. He didn't want to let her down.  
_And I'm so sorry that I've fallen  
Help me up, let's keep on running  
Don't let me fall out of love  
_He was sorry, but it was too late. Ryan listened to another verse as he watched it rain, not only outside, but on his life.  
_Be, be the one I need  
Be the one I trust most  
Don't stop inspiring me  
_Ryan remembered kissing Kathryn. He remembered everything about her. When he was with her it was like...it was like a dream. It was unreal. It wasn't like that with Marissa anymore.  
_Sometimes it's hard to keep on running  
We work so much to keep it going  
Don't make me want to give up  
_He couldn't help it. Marissa wasn't right for him. He was giving up.

* * *

"Hey."  
"Hey Seth! Come in!" she paused. "What are you doing here?" she was slightly confused as to why he was at her house.  
"Well, I was wondering if I could take a look at your graphic novels?"  
"Oh sure! You want to come upstairs?"  
"Uh-huh." He followed her to her room, which was covered in posters of Death Cab for Cutie and Dashboard Confessional. He was shocked. No other girl he knew liked them. Granted, he didn't know that many girls, but Summer and Marissa had the same taste as the entire school, almost, so it was a pretty safe bet.  
"Oh, wait. Before I get them out, do you mind if I get changed? It's just, I had kickboxing this morning and I haven't had chance yet."  
"Oh no, go right ahead." Seth didn't mind at all.  
She took off her shirt, and let it fall gracefully to the floor. She picked out a green, vintage t-shirt, and it fit her perfectly, going in and out right where she did. She unbuttoned her jeans, and stepped out of the heap that they made on the floor, and put on a different pair of stonewashed grey jeans. She pushed her hair back into a messy, but chic, bun. She pulled a box out from underneath her bed, and blew the dust off the top. She took off the lid, and almost immediately Seth started pulling volumes out.  
"Oh my God! These are all so rare! Oh my God you have the original Batman!"  
She nodded and smiled proudly. "The first ever one. I got it at a convention. It cost me a thousand bucks."  
"Holy...and it's in really good condition too! I'm just...wow," he breathed.  
He rested his head on her shoulder while they read the comic books, and every time he moved, his hair brushed her neck, and she giggled.  
"What?"  
"It tickles," she laughed some more. He moved in, and kissed her. She kissed him back, at first, but then drew back.  
"No, Seth, I can't do this. I can't let you do this."  
"Why not?"  
"Because I like someone else...and he likes me too, I think."  
"Ryan."  
"Uh-huh," she dropped her head. "I'm sorry."  
"No, it's not your fault. But...what about Marissa?"  
"I...I don't know. I don't really know anything right now. Would you just...would you just hold me?"  
"Sure," and Seth took her in his arms, and they sat on the floor, like that, until Kathryn's mom came and sang to them about dinner.

* * *

"Hey Ryan."  
"Marissa," she kissed him, but he drew back.  
"Is something wrong?"  
"No...yes...I mean..."  
"Ryan, what is it?"  
He took a breath. This wasn't going to be easy.  
"I think we should break up."  
"What?" Marissa cried. Literally. "Why?"  
"It's just..."  
"Just what? Is there someone else?"  
"Of course there's someone else!" he wanted to snap at her, but he had to keep his cool, or they would end up not even being friends. "No...well yes, but it's not just that. Things haven't been the same since I came back from Chino. Haven't you noticed?"  
Marissa sighed. She should've known he was going back to Theresa.  
"Who is it? The other girl?" she asked, even though she knew what he would say. Ryan paused. He hadn't planned on telling her – at least not yet.  
"It's..." he looked out of the window, where he could see Seth and Kathryn playing an all-too-real version of Batman. They were rolling around, pretending to shoot each other with their fingers, laughing and screaming.  
"Seth?" Ryan looked at her, his 'not-funny-right-now' look.  
"Kathryn." Marissa looked at her, daggers in her eyes.  
"I'm sorry," he left the room. She promptly sat down on her bed and got out the Kleenex. 


	7. Rule 7: Always, Always Smile

_A/N This chapter was hell to write. I've started chapter eight, but any suggestions that you have, any **at all** would be awesome. Check the reviews for ways to contact me. Thanks a lot. By the way, this chapter contains some strong language, so if you are little, then beware. (And by the way, don't ask who wrote the song, because it was me.) =)_

* * *

"What do you want?"  
"I came to see if I could borrow..."  
"Don't you mean steal? Just like you stole my boyfriend?" Marissa erupted.  
"What do you mean? Ryan doesn't want me! He wants _you!_"  
"Yeah, he wants _me_. Is that why he broke up with me? Oh, no, wait! It was because he's in love with _you!_" Marissa pointed her trembling finger at Kathryn.  
"Wh...what?" Kathryn stammered. "He broke up with you?"  
"Yeah, he did. Summer was so right about you."  
"Summer? What did she say?"  
"She said you were a threat."  
"A threat? To what?"  
"To our reputations as prettiest at Harbor. And she said that you weren't only kissing Seth Cohen, but you were probably kissing Ryan too – and she was _right_."  
"_What?_ How did she know about Seth?"  
"She saw you, you dumb bitch," Marissa said, her voice low and menacing.  
"How the hell did she see inside my house?"  
"You kissed him _twice?_ She saw you outside the Cohens'!"  
"_That?_ That was just me kissing him to say _Thank You_ and _Goodbye!_"  
"Uh-huh, yeah. Whatever. Screw you, Kathryn. Get the fuck out of my house."  
"Oh. Okay. But before I go, you listen to me. It's not my fault that Ryan likes me, any more than it's my fault that I like him! You can't change who you are, but you can change who you're with. You need to find someone more like you," Kathryn said, her confidence growing with every word. "You need to find a guy with rich parents, a sibling, and a high rank at school. That's not Ryan. But I wish you luck in finding your guy."  
Marissa was getting angrier and angrier, so as soon as Kathryn finished her little speech, she slammed the door in her face. That fucking bitch. Thinking she was so fucking special, coming from fucking New York, with her fucking red hair, and her fucking kick boxing, feeding her all this crap about need to find a guy that suited her. Miss Fucking High and Mighty. Slut.

* * *

"Ryan?" Kathryn wandered into the poolhouse.  
"Kathryn?"  
"Hi. I just spoke to Marissa."  
"Oh," Ryan sat down. He knew what was coming next.  
"You're in love with me?" okay, maybe he didn't know what was coming next.  
"I...I don't know."  
"Ryan. You do know. You know how you feel about everything and everyone. So tell me."  
"Okay," Kathryn braced herself. "Yes."  
"Yes? Oh, my God," she opened her mouth to say something else, but closed it again.  
"So...I guess you don't feel the same way," he said.  
"Oh Ryan," she kissed him, first of all just standing there, then running her hand up his chest, holding onto his neck so her legs didn't collapse. She pushed her hand through his hair, feeling every strand trickle through her fingers, hanging onto him with every fibre of her being. "Yes, I feel the same way. How could I not?"  
Ryan smiled. Now he knew how she really felt, he could ask her out.  
"So...would you like to go out sometime? With me, I mean?"  
"Of course, Ryan!" she linked her fingers with his. "Where do you want to go?"  
"I was thinking of this little jazz bar. We look twenty-one, don't we? Anyway, people can go up on stage, and sing and read poetry and stuff. It's cool."  
"Wow, Ryan, that sounds great! I didn't know you liked jazz!" she exclaimed. Ryan hadn't known either, until Kirsten had forced him to listen to Norah Jones with her in the car, because she loved it. Ryan had kinda liked it.  
"Okay, cool. When do you want to go?"  
"How about now?"  
"Now?" Ryan was surprised. He liked the idea. It was spontaneous.  
"Why not? Come on, let's go!" she grabbed his hand and they ran to the car.

* * *

"Ryan! This is the Crab Shack!"  
"After nine it's a jazz bar! Come on!" Ryan smiled, and they went inside, and sat at a table.  
"_Look for the girl with the broken smile,  
Ask her if she wants to stay a while  
And she will be loved..._"  
"Thank you, Luke. That was...beautiful. Do we have another volunteer? No? Okay, we'll have to pick someone. How about you, with the red hair? Hmm?"  
"Okay," Kathryn touched Ryan's hand for assurance. He watched her walk up to the piano, and she sat down, the beads of her skirt falling over the edge of the stool.  
"I wrote this song a couple of days ago, when...when my heart was broken. I hope you all like it." Ryan watched in awe as she played a small, jazzy riff, and then she opened her mouth, and started to describe their relationship, through a song.  
_Once upon a time  
There was a little girl  
She never had anyone  
And she grew up in her crazy mixed up world  
Once upon a time  
She moved ashore  
She moved to a place  
Where no-one would hurt her anymore  
But once again  
She was pushed aside  
Like a toy you've played with too many times  
And once again  
She was thrown away  
Until one very fateful day  
When she fell in love  
Once upon a time  
Our Cinderella  
Her Prince Charming  
Had come along to tell her  
That she was too beautiful for him  
That she was too...sexy  
That he was betrothed  
And he was sorry  
But once again  
She didn't understand  
Why he wouldn't take her hand  
And once again  
She put on her smile  
The one that had survived so many trials  
And she cried  
Our Cinderella might not have a happy ending  
Our Cinderella can't carry on pretending  
She doesn't want to be thrown aside  
Like a toy you've played with too many times  
She doesn't want to be thrown aside  
But she'll always be thrown aside  
She cried...  
_ Ryan sat in silence as the crowd ruptured into cheers and applause. Slowly he got up and walked toward the stage. He got up on it, and pulled her up to his height and embraced her.  
"Cinderella, I'll never throw you aside," he whispered in her ear.  
She smiled as she whispered in _his_ ear,  
"I love you, Prince Charming."

* * *

Summer picked up the kid's ball.  
"Here."  
"Thanks, lady!" The boy took it, and ran back over to his friends.  
"Summer has a heart, Summer has a heart." Seth sang, coming up behind her.  
"You didn't see anything, Cohen. Remember, rage blackouts."  
"Right." He ran his fingers through his Jew-Fro.  
"It's gone a little weird."  
"Okay a) I can't believe you noticed and b) I have Ryan to thank for that. My hair doesn't agree with cold water. So what made you notice? Hmm?" Seth looked at her quizzically.  
"I don't know," Summer spluttered. "I guess...I guess it just looked weirder than normal, and I can't believe that's possible."  
Seth grinned. "Bye Summer."  
"Bye, Seth."  
Seth walked away, toward the sea, replaying the conversation in his head. When he got to the end, he stopped, and smiled. She had called him Seth.

* * *

"Ryan." The word escaped her lips before she could stop them. "Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan Ryan." They spilled out of her like she was insane. She was. She was still insanely in love with him, even though he had dumped her for that slut. "Ryan Ryan." She picked up the bottle of pills. "Ryan." 


	8. Rule 8: Make the Most of Every Moment

this is it folks. chapter "the end."please R&R! thanks to everyone that did, i love you all! and i promise, sequel is coming soon!

* * *

"Coop! Coop!" Summer ran through the house looking for her friend/ "Coop!" her voice became more urgent. "Coop!" she looked in the living room. No Marissa. She looked in the kitchen. No Marissa. She looked in the bedroom. "Omigod, Marissa!" she was lying on the floor, holding onto an almost empty bottle of pills. She pulled her cellphone out of her bag, her hands shaking so much she couldn't flip it open for a good five minutes, a five minutes that could be crucial to Marissa's life.

"Hello, 911."

"Oh, God, hello, this is Summer Roberts. My friend...she...I think she..." she was crying so hard she could barely speak.

"Okay, miss, we're going to need you to calm down if we're going to help your friend. Do you need an ambulance?"

"Yes! Yes, it needs to come to number eighteen, Orange Grove. Hurry, please!"

"Okay, miss, it will be there shortly."

"Thank you!" and before the operator could speak again, she slapped the phone shut. "It's going to be okay, Coop. It's got to be okay."

* * *

Ryan and Kathryn were canoodling in the poolhouse when Seth burst in.

"You guys! We need to get next door right now."

Kathryn sat up right away.

"Oh God, Marissa! Seth, what's happened?"

"I don't know. But there's all sorts of commotion over there," he looked at Ryan. "Come on!"

Kathryn grabbed Ryan's hand to reassure him.

"I'm sure she'll be okay. Let's go."

* * *

"Miss Roberts, do you know what this is?"

Summer shook her head.

"It is ketamine. Do you know what ketamine is?"

Summer shook her head again.

"Ketamine is a horse tranquilizer. Do you know where Miss Cooper could have got hold of it?"

"No..." Summer thought, and suddenly had an idea. "Caitlin's pony!" she gasped.

"Who is Caitlin?"

"Coop's little sister. Omigod, will she be okay? She's not a horse!"

"We know that, Miss Roberts. Your friend has taken a dangerous amount of pills. We have to get her to hospital immediately."

"Right, right," she grabbed on to the man's coat. "You've got to save her!"

"We will do everything we can for Miss Cooper, we assure you."

"Summer?"

"Cohen?" she ran over and held him in her arms. "Thank God you're here! I had to deal with it all myself and I didn't know what to do..." she gabbled.

"Hey, hey, sssh," he hugged her tightly – and then he realised that he didn't want to let go.

* * *

Ryan sat, examining the crack in the ceiling above him. He was surprised that as a hospital, they had not fixed it. Who knew how many germs were lurking in there? He closed his eyes, trying to block out the shouts of the paramedics and doctors all around, not necessarily helping Marissa, but he could imagine her lying on a hospital bed, being prodded and poked with so many things he couldn't even try to name them all.

"Ryan?" Ryan turned his head and saw Kathryn sitting beside him/ it was obvious that she'd been crying. He pulled her close to him, and held her until visiting hours began, and they could go and see Marissa.

* * *

"Coop?"

"Summer?" Marissa opened her eyes and saw Summer's worried face over her. She closed them again, and one delicate tear dribbled down. "Is Ryan here?"

"Yeah – do you want me to get him?" she paused. "But if he comes, then it's inevitable that Kathryn will come too – they're inseparable."

"Summer, do you even know what half those words mean?" Marissa laughed half-heartedly. "I want to see him anyway. Bring him?"

"Sure, Coop," Summer couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that her friend didn't even want to see her, didn't want to see the person that had found her, called 911, sat with her in the ambulance, held her hand all night in case she had woken up, and had never given up on her, convinced she was alive.

* * *

"Ryan? Coop wants to see you."

"She's alive?" Ryan couldn't mask his smile. Even though he didn't love her anymore, she was still special to him. He grabbed Kathryn's hand. "Come on."

Kathryn walked to Marissa's room, all the time holding Ryan's hand, but barely aware that it was there. She blamed herself, and half of her knew she should, after all, Marissa had been perfectly happy before she had lost Ryan. The other half, the rational half, told her not to be so stupid, that she wasn't responsible for Marissa's actions, that she couldn't help the fact that she was dating Ryan now.

"Uh-uh," Seth stood at Marissa's door. He didn't really like the girl, but he was doing it as a favour to Summer. "Kathryn, she doesn't want to see you."

The words hit her like a ton of bricks. She should have expected it, and she did, but to actually hear it hurt more than she knew.

"No way. If Kathryn doesn't come, then I'm not going in," Ryan spoke up for his girlfriend.

"Ryan, it's okay. I'll just stay here...with Seth."

"No, I don't..."

"Ryan. Go in. Go talk to her."

He touched her hand, hoping it would...what? Reassure him, maybe? He kissed her, and then walked in, to face his past.

* * *

"Ryan. You came," Marissa struggled to sit up, but slid back down again.

"Yeah, I came. How are you?" he reached down to touch her face. She looked so tiny and helpless.

"I'm fine. Well, I'm not fine, but I will be," she reached up for him, and let her hand trickle down his face to his neck, and she held on to his shirt to pull herself back up. She brushed her hair back with her hand, and for a moment, Ryan saw the girl he fell in love with. He saw Marissa.

"Ryan!" Kathryn opened the door. "Julie wants to talk to Marissa," he made no effort to move. "Alone."

"Oh, right," he walked over to Kathryn, and slid his arm around her waist, and they kissed.

"Bye Marissa. I hope you feel better," Kathryn waved, and they walked out of the room, Ryan nodding at her in acknowledgement.

Marissa watched Ryan talk briefly to her mom, and a tear fell down her face. She would never get Ryan back. She closed her eyes, and imagined lying in Ryan's arms.

A few seconds later, on her last breath, she whispered the name "Ryan".

* * *

"Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep," Summer jerked her head up. She pushed Julie out of the way, and opened the door with such force that she bent the door handle. She ran over to Marissa.

"Coop, no. Coop! Wake up, Coop, please wake up!" she cried, letting the tears gush out, she shook Marissa. "Please Marissa. You can't go!"

Ryan, hearing Summer cry out, grabbed Kathryn and Seth's arms.

"Come on!" they burst into the room. "What's going on?"

"Coop you can't be gone!" Summer frantically yelled at Marissa.

"She's gone?" Ryan ran over to the bed, and knew that she was...he couldn't bear to think it. The colour of her skin, the lifelessness of her limbs showed how painfully obvious it was that she was gone. He let a single tear fall. The first tear that he had shed. Ever. Summer clung on to him, both of them crying every drop of water that they held inside. Kathryn and Seth stood back, their arms around each other's waist, too stunned to do a thing. Kathryn squeezed Seth's skin, and he used his spare hand to hold her in his arms. They all stood in silence, for much more than a moment, and they all felt numb, for much more than a moment. And for much more than a moment, none of them got what they wanted. And then the moment was gone.


End file.
